When I was a little girl, every time my dad was repairing something, he {#blank#}1{#/blank#}ask me to hold the hammer, and meanwhile, have a conversation with me. I never saw my dad drinking or taking a night out. All he did after work was taking care of his family.

    I grew up and left home for college and since then, my dad had been calling me every Sunday morning, no matter what. Several years later I bought a house, {#blank#}2{#/blank#} my dad painted by himself for three days in the 80-degree summer heat. All he asked was for me to talk to him. But I was always busy, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(able) to find any time for conversation with him.

    One Sunday morning we had a telephone talk as usual. I noticed that my dad had {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(forget) some things we discussed {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(late). I was in a hurry, so our conversation was short. Later that day came a call {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (say) my father was in hospital. Immediately I bought a ticket for a flight and on my way I was thinking about all the {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (miss) occasions to have{#blank#}8{#/blank#}talk with my dad.

    {#blank#}9{#/blank#}the time I got to hospital, my father had passed away. Now it was {#blank#}10{#/blank#}who did not have time for a conversation with me. I realized how little I know about my dad, his deepest thoughts and dreams. After his death I learned more about him, and even more about myself.

    Few people would even think of beginning a new job at the age of 76, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} one of America's most famous artists just did that. Anna Mary Robertson, better {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (know) as “Grandma Moses”, turned to painting because she was too old to work on her farm.

    Grandma Moses was crazy about painting soon after she picked it up and worked hard at it. She painted {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(careful) and her works were nice. She first painted only to please {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(she) and then began to sell her works {#blank#}5{#/blank#} a little money. In 1993, a collector, Louis Caldor happened {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (see) several of Grandma Morse' works {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(hang) in a shop. He liked them, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (buy) them at once, and set out to look for more. Caldor held a show to introduce the works of Grandma Moses to other artists. Grandma Moses, {#blank#}9{#/blank#} was world famous, {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (die) on December 13, 1961, at the age of 101.

    Who built the first canal? Perhaps some people long ago, living in {#blank#}1{#/blank#} dry country, discovered that they could dig ditches (沟壑) {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (irrigate) their fields with the river water. And naturally in the days {#blank#}3{#/blank#} boats were the most important means of transport, canals were the easiest means of reaching a place. Furthermore, a ditch {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (join) two rivers proved efficient for boat travel.

    Today, most countries in the world have canals. Even in the 2lst century, goods can be moved more {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (convenient) by boat than by some other means of transport. Some canals, such as the Suez or the Panama, {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (save) ships weeks of time by making their voyage a thousand miles {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (short). Other canals permit boats to reach cities that {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (situate) inland. Still other canals drain lands where there is too much water. Help farmers irrigate fields without enough water, and provide water power for {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (factory) as well.

    Most of the canals have a long history. Canals existed in Egypt thousands of years ago. And the Grand Canal of China was begun about 2, 500 years ago and took centuries to finish. During the seventeenth century, France built many canals that are still {#blank#}10{#/blank#} use today.

Tu Youyou, a {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(commit) and patient scientist, was born in China and graduated from Peking University Medical School in 1955. After graduation, she worked at the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Beijing. In 1967, she {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (choose) by the government to join a team of scientists with the aim of discovering a new treatment {#blank#}3{#/blank#} malaria. Her team examined over 2,000 old medical texts, and evaluated 280,000 plants for their medical {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(property). From their research, they discovered and tested 380 distinct ancient Chinese medical treatments that showed promise in the fight against malaria.

After a lot of failures, in 1971, Tu Youyou and her team members succeeded by using a lower temperature {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(draw) out the extract. They even insisted on testing the medicine on {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(they) to make sure that it was safe. Later, the medicine was tested on malaria patients，most of whom recovered. The medicine,{#blank#}7{#/blank#}was called artemisinin, soon became a standard treatment for malaria.

According to Tu Youyou, the discovery of artemisinin was a team effort. Upon {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(hear) that she had been awarded {#blank#}9{#/blank#}Nobel Prize, she said the honour belongs to the team behind her and all the people of her country. The success{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(prove) the great value of traditional Chinese medicine.